Member of Knights of Columbus shares opinion of Catholic priests

'They weren't just role models, they were friends, and I consider them all part of my family.'

US track and field Olympian Joe Kovacs is a Member of the Knights of Columbus. He recently released a statement concerning priests at the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Speaking to the Knights of Columbus magazine Columbia, Kovacs explained his role in the Church and Catholic community has deeply influenced the athletic side of his lifestyle.

His father and grandmother passed away when he was only seven-years-old, leaving him with few role models and a mother who attempted to fill the void.

It was during this time that she made it a point to frequent the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, where the priests and sisters helped his family get through the loss.

She sent him to a small Catholic high school and encourage him to stay fit for football by hiring a coach to meet with Kovacs every Sunday after church.

As he made his way through school and sports, the priests, with one in particular, made the extra effort of encouraging Kovacs' faith and served as role models.

"They helped me with my faith, but they also helped me do things that aren't the norm," Kovacs explained. "One of the priests, Father Joe Gleixner, was my confirmation sponsor and helped me a ton. I was in a lot of science fairs in high school and he showed me how to build things.

"We built a wind tunnel together. One of the retired priests also helped me chip a golf ball around their grounds, and that's how I learned to have a good gold swing. So the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been very close to my family. They weren't just role models, they were friends, and I consider them all part of my family."

When Kovacs attended Penn State, he joined the Knights of Columbus because the group was always volunteering and holding events for the community.

"I realized that the people I looked up to or wanted to become were part of this great organization," Kovacs said before admitting his time at the Olympic Training Center the past three years has kept him from being as active as he once was.

Once he is "able to find [his] own place and settle down," Kovacs claimed he would be interested in getting back into the activities but in the meantime he enjoys attending Mass in different countries.

"[O]ne of the coolest things about the Catholic faith, being universal, is that every time you go to a church in a different country the format of the Mass is the same. I may not know what they're saying in their language - but I do know what they're saying. In most countries, I only know enough words to order food in their languages, but when I go to church I know what's going on and can participate in Mass."

As a devout Catholic, Kovacs shared his coach, Art Venegas, was once a teacher at a Catholic college and when he paid the Vatican a visit in 2015, he returned with a rosary for his mother, blessed by Pope Francis.

Kovacs won the gold medal in the Beijing World Championships last year and looks forward to his Rio Olympics competition.

He is confident he will perform well but stated: "Prayers always help - for our whole team going down to Rio."

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